PHYTOPLANKTON ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES FOR ECOSYSTEM MODELING: SOME BASIC CONCEPTS

Abstract

Ecosystem modeling predicts the structure and functioning of ecosystems from initial conditions and knowledge of ecological processes. The compromise between the number of state variables and accuracy of predictions is the key issue for reliability of this technique. Although many ecosystem models are only focused on eutrophication and water quality, new technologies have increased the data acquisition rate for a larger number of state variables,which allows the complexity of simulations to increase. A comprehensive description of the main phytoplankton ecological processes included in most models relating hydrodynamics with eutrophication is developed in this section by considering the size of the cells as a variable from which many other state variables can be mirrored.